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"Yes, I have something more to say. There is Cuba — poor, struggling 
Cuba. I want you to stand by the Cubans. Cuba must be free Her ty- 
rannical enemy must be crushed. Cuba must not only be free, but all her 
sister islands. This Republic is responsible for that. I am passing away, 
but you must look after this. We have been together; now you must look 

to this." 

Dying Words of GENERAL U.UVI.INS in Becivtarj Cresswell. 



«/ 



THE CUBAN QUESTION 



AMERICAN" POLICY, 



THE LIGHT OF COMMON SENSE. 



"Yes, I have something more to say. TJiere is Cuba — $001; struggling Cuba. 
I tuant you to stand by the Cubans. Cuba must be free. Her tyrannical enemy 
must be crushed. Cuba must not only be free, but all her sister islands. This Re- 
public is responsible for that. lam passing away, but you must look after this. We 
have been together ; now you must look to this." 

Dying Words o/Genenal Rawlins to Secretary Oresswell. 




N E W YORK 

1869. 






~p 



*e 






THE CUBAN QUESTION. 



The United States Responsible for the Fate of Cuba. 



The fate of Cuba rests with the United States. The Cubans 
have struck the blow for freedom, and for more than a year have 
maintained a most heroic struggle. Without effective arras or 
munitions of war, and without organization, preparation, or mili- 
tary training, they bravely proclaimed their liberty, risking their 
lives, property, and all they hold dear for that inestimable bless- 
ing. They were goaded to this step by intolerable tyranny and 
grinding exactions. They had no voice in the government over 
them ; they were heavily taxed without their consent ; they had 
no control over the enormous revenue exacted from them ; they 
had not only to support a host of hungry officials in the island, who 
were sent out from Spain, and who had no sympathy with the 
colonists or interest in the colony, but they were compelled also 
to contribute largely to the support of their oppressors and of 
that very government in Europe which denied them even the 
shadow of political liberty. No people ever had greater cause 
for revolt. None ever behaved more bravely, and, considering 
their want of means, the difficulties they labored under, and the 
vast organized military power against them, none ever made 
greater success, within so short a period. Yet, if unaided, di- 
rectly or indirectly, by the United States, the conflict must be 
long and doubtful, and would only end with the utter ruin of the 
island. Hence, as was said, the fate of Cuba rests with this 
country. 

The Cubans may maintain the struggle to the bitter end, and, 
no doubt, have made up their minds to do so. The die is cast, 
and it would be better to suffer death in the effort to be free than 
to be subjugated, for Spain is cruel and unforgiving. They would 
have no hope in the future from the magnanimity or promises of 
the Spanish government. Their painful experience, throughout 



their whole history, of the unfulfilled promises of Spain, and the 
persistent refusal of that country to listen to their appeals for 
some show of liberality or justice, must convince them that what- 
ever government is in power at Madrid, whether monarchical or 
republican, they can expect *ao concessions, no change for the 
better, no toleration. Doubtless, then, they will fight to the last, 
and rather than submit, carry universal desolation over the country. 
Their determined purpose to do this no one can doubt, who looks 
at the sufferings they now willingly endure, at the sacrifices 
they make, and at the fact that they are applying the torch to all 
sugar plantations and other property which might be appropri- 
ated by their enemies and used against themselves. 

Nor would Spain leave Cuba without desolating it, and, as far 
as human power goes, making that magnificent island worthless, 
both to the Cubans themselves and to America, unless the United 
States should interpose and prevent the calamity. If the Span- 
iards see that Cuba can no longer be of value to them as a colony, 
they would do all in their power, probably, to make it valueless 
to others. Disgraceful as such conduct would be to any civilized 
nation, and to that Spain which was once so famous in history and 
for its chivalry, there is every reason to fear the most vindictive 
course toward Cuba. The statesmen of Spain — such men as Ser- . 
rano and Dulce — might not desire it, but the Spaniards on the 
island, and the ignorant masses of the old country, who know 
. nothing about Cuba, and are systematically deceived as to the 
condition of things there, would force these statesmen even to 
measures they might abhor. The vindictiveness, cruelty, and as- 
sumption of the Spanish volunteers in Cuba, with which the 
American government and people are familiar, show what may be 
expected in the future. A governing class or oligarchy becomes 
merciless in revolutionary times, when there is danger of its 
power and privileges being lost, and there is no people more vin- 
dictive, cruel, and reckless than the Spaniards under such cir- 
cumstances. 

Then, the so-called pride or haughty vanity of the Spaniards 
would blind them to reason and lead them to excesses even where 
there might be no hope of saving their fancied honor. Besides, 
old Spain has no sympathy with American republicanism or 
American progress. Notwithstanding the late revolution in 



Spain, the overthrow of the Bourbon monarchy, and the profes- 
sion of liberal principles, the old European prejudices and jeal- 
ousy of America are strong in the Spaniards. While they pro- 
fess admiration and friendship for the United States they are as 
jealous of this country and as ready to throw obstacles in the 
way of its progress as the ruling classes or governments of other 
countries in Europe. Nothing will be left undone, therefore, to 
prevent Cuban independence, the acquisition of Cuba by the Uni- 
ted States, or the desolation of the island, so as to make it as 
worthless as possible to any other people than the Spaniards. 

But the desolation of Cuba — the destruction of the sugar, to- 
bacco, and other plantations, burning of towns and villages, and 
the ruin of all the material interests and commerce of the island — 
would not be the only evil of a prolonged and vindictive war, 
dreadful as this mast prove. Want and anarchy would necessarily 
follow. The passions which revolution lets loose would find their 
vent, probably, in a war of races and factions, and we might see 
the horrors of San Domingo revived. The richest and most pro- 
ductive country in the world would be utterly ruined and left a 
prey to frightful disorder and carnage. The vast negro popula- 
tion, amounting to over half a million of souls, or near forty per 
cent, of the whole population of the island, are like the negroes of 
the Southern States, docile, peaceable, and industrious when under 
proper control ; but they are ignorant and capable of fearful ex- 
cesses, as was seen in San Domingo, when aroused by suffering 
or wicked leaders. Should the war continue long, and, conse- 
quently, the people be reduced to want and anarchy, there is reasi n i 
to apprehend a state of things that will make the civilized world 
shudder. Such is the terrible prospect, unless the United States, 
for the sake of humanity and from a principle of high public- 
policy, stop the war by claiming the independence or annexation oi 
Cuba. The revolution has assumed such proportions, and all the 
circumstances connected with it are such that either freedom or 
utter ruin must be the consequence. The American republic can 
only decide which shall be the alternative, and upon it alone i 
the responsibility. 



What the United States ought to Do. 



Here the question arises, then, what should the United States 
do in the case of Cuba ? The answer to this involves many con- 
siderations bearing upon international obligations, the material 
and political interests of the country, the claims of humanity, the 
cause of republican freedom in the world, particularly in this 
hemisphere, and the progress and future of the great American 
republic. Should the United States Government interpose to 
secure the independence of Cuba ? And if it should, on what 
grounds ? Or, taking a less decisive course, ought it to recognize 
the Cubans as belligerents ?. The last proposition of conceding 
belligerent rights would carry probably the first with it, for the 
American Government is not likely to take any such decided ac- 
tion without feeling assured that it would lead to the independence 
of Cuba. Nor can there be any doubt of the result should the 
United States recognize the Cubans as belligerents. That act 
alone would do much to secure the independence of Cuba. Though 
not bound by the mere recognition of belligerent rights to aid the 
Cubans the American Government would hardly permit itself to 
be placed in the humiliating position of seeing Cuba subjugated 
afterwards. 

Ought the United States to recognize the Cubans as belligerents ? 
Nine- tenths of the American people, at least, say, yes. Probably 
there are none, except a few Spanish agents, and a few narrow 
minded men who are opposed to all progress, who would say, no. 
The generous and liberty-loving citizens of this great republic 
would proclaim at once the independence of Cuba, and act in a 
manner to secure it, if they would follow the noble impulses of their 
own hearts. There is no question as to the popular sympathy and 
will on this subject. It seems strange, in fact, that the government 
has not acted in this matter more in accordance with public 
sentiment, for public opinion is the basis of our republican 
institutions and law of our national existence. But the executive 
administration is naturally conservative, and properly so, as far 
as relates to maintaining the laws. Still, under the American 
i'o.m of government, the will of the jecplu should be obeyed on 



great questions of national policy. There is, however, a large 
degree of latitude allowed to the executive in this country on all 
matters of an international character, and the people are disposed 
to be patient till they understand fully the motives or object 
of the government, or till their representatives in Congress can 
speak. With regard to recognizing the belligerent rights of the 
Cubans the administration has followed up to this time its con- 
servative instincts rather than the popular will. 

Is it wise to pursue that course any longer ? Has not the 
time arrived when the Cubans should be recognized ? Does not 
every consideration of national policy, interest, and humanity call 
for recognition ? There is no positive international law or rule of 
action to govern nations as to the time or circumstances when a 
people struggling for liberty shall be recognized as belligerents. 
The only principle generally acknowledged as a guide for govern- 
ments in such cases, is, that those fighting for independence must 
have been able to sustain a war for some time with reasonable 
prospect of success. But each nation or government judges for it- 
self, and that generally in accordance with its own interests or 
some policy it favors. Great Britain and some other European 
nations recognized the Confederates at the commencement, or 
during the first months of the late civil war in the United States. 
True, they did so on the plea that the magnitude of the war justi- 
fied it. But a plea is never wanted whenever state policy and the 
supposed interests of a nation are to be promoted by such a course. 
The European governments looked with jealousy and disfavor up- 
on the growing power of this republic and the consequent progress 
of republican ideas, and they seized the opportunity for doing 
what they could to dismember the country. This was their 
state policy. This was the State policy of monarchical Europe. 
Yet the Confederate States were an integral portion of a 
friendly and mighty nation, where all the people were free, pros 
ous, and happy. The South was not a distant possession or depen 
dency like Cuba, or like the American colonies before the wa 
independence. There was no grinding oppression or mill 
despotism as in Cuba on which a plea of recognition or inter- 
ference could be made. The action of Great Britain and other 
European powers in the case of the Confederates was simply S 
policy based on hostility to American institutions, jealousy and 



national rivalry. Other examples might be cited to show, as was 
said, that a plea is never wanted where national interests and 
policy are concerned. 

Not only do the powers of Europe recognize and aid revolting 
dependencies or sections of a country whenever it suits their pur- 
pose, but they seize and annex territories and States, depose and 
set up governments, for their own advantage and aggrandizement. 
Did not France set up an Imperial foreign government in Mexico 
against the will of the people on the principle of monarchical 
State policy ? And did not the powers of Europe, Spain included, 
promptly recognize that government ? Did not France seize large 
territories in Africa and appropriate Savoy ? Has not England 
pushed her conquests over a large portion of Asia and in every 
part of the globe to aggrandize herself and extend her commerce ? 
What did Prussia in Germany ? What is Eussia doing continu- 
ally? Was not heroic Poland dismembered and parceled out 
among the surrounding great nations from State policy ? Spain 
did the same as the others in former times and if she has not 
gone so far lately as they have, it was because she had not the 
power. Yet she even attempted a few years ago to reconquer San 
Domingo. It is absurd to talk of principle in such cases. The 
only principle recognized is that of national interest : the only 
law followed is that of the strongest : the only consideration is 
that of national progress, development, and grandeur. Is the 
great American republic to be the only power that must not study 
its own interests in extending its system of government, in- 
influence, commerce, or territory ? Shall it not take advan- 
tage of favorable circumstances, as other powers do, to fulfill 
its destiny and to carry out the policy of national progress ? 
Any other great nation occupying the position this republic 
does with regard to Cuba would have acknowledged the 
the independence of that island or have annexed it long since. Yet 
the American government has refused up to this time to recognize 
the Cubans as belligerents, though that heroic people have carried 
on the war for independence more than a year, though they have 
irom the smallest beginning in the sparsely settled district of 
Bayamo extended their conquests over the largest part of the is- 
land, and though the revolutionary government and forces are 
stronger and better organized to-day than ever. Upon every 



9 

principle of justice, right, expediency, humanity, and national 
policy the United States ought to acknowledge Cuba not only 
as a belligerent power but as an independent republic. 

The question is treated here as an American one chiefly, and 
from an American point of view, because whatever may be the 
destiny or fate of Cuba, this country has a great interest in it, 
and because the argument is addressed to Americans. If the is- 
and should be dessolated and ruined from the want of action on the 
part of the United States, the American people would suffer in their 
trade and commerce, the character of the nation would be damaged 
for permitting such a calamity, and it would lose the finest op- 
portunity for enriching itself and developing the wealth of the 
Antilles. If Cuba should become an independent republic that 
would add another buttress, to use the simile of Mr. Seward, to 
the American republic and republican system, would largely in- 
crease the trade of this country, and would open a vast field for 
American enterprise. If the island should be annexed, that would 
increase the power, importance, and wealth of the United States, 
would give the most commanding position for naval purposes and 
for the domination of the whole of the West Indies, as well as 
the countries bordering the Gulf of Mexico and Carribean sea, 
and would add two or three States to the Union richer than any 
now possessed. It would increase greatly the variety of domestic 
products, give the monopoly of sugar production and other tropical 
productions, and would go far to make the United States inde- 
pendent of the rest of the world for everything that enters into 
the daily consumption of the people or into commerce. In fact, 
the rest of the world would be dependent to a great extent upon 
the United States for sugar and other tropical products, as it now 
is for cotton. Whether Cuba should be annexed or not at present, 
in the event of it becoming independent of Spain, there can !"■ 
no doubt that in the end annexation must take place. The position 
of the island geographically considered and the interests of both 
the Cubans and the United States must lead to that. In every 
point of view, then, this is an American question. 



10 



The Monroe Doctrine applied to Cuba. 



Forty-six years ago, when the United States were an insignifi- 
cant power compared to what they are now 7 the government laid 
down as a fixed policy what is known as the Monroe Doctrine. 
The propositions of President Monroe in his message to Congress, 
December 2d, 1823, were : 

First. " The American continents, by the free and independent 
condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth 
not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any 
European power." 

Second. " The United States considers any attempt on the part 
of European powers to extend their system to any portion of this 
hemisphere as dangerous to their peace and safety." 

The principle proclaimed here is, America for the Americans 
no European interference with the existing republican govern- 
ments and progress of republican institutions on American soil, 
and no farther extension of the monarchical system or colonization 
in this hemisphere. Mr. Canning, the minister of England at the 
time this doctrine was proclaimed, was, in a certain sense, the 
author of it. He proposed it to Mr. Eush, the American minis- 
ter at London, to checkmate the designs of Spain and the Holy 
Alliance, for subjugating and restoring the revolted Spanish 
colonies, which had already declared their independence. True, 
England had her own policy to promote by this proposition to 
the American government, and did not make it from any love to 
this republic, but that does not weaken the fact that a great English 
statesman saw and suggested the importance of America having 
a policy for itself, based upon national interests and republican 
institutions. But this was no new doctrine, though it assumed 
the official form and importance given to it by the message of 
President Monroe in 1823. Nearly all the statesmen of the 
United States up to that time, and this country was blessed with 
far seeing statesmen in those days, had used their efforts to prevent 
the extension of European influence and the European monarchical 
system in this hemisphere. Nor did they ever lose an opportunity 
to extend the area of this republic and republican institutions in 



11 

America. The early recognition of the independence of the 
revolted Spanish- American colonies, the acquistion of Louisiana 
and Florida, and other acts of the government in the earlier and 
purer days of its history show this. Hamilton, in 1797, tried hard 
to organize an invasion of the Spanish-American colonies under the 
protection of the United States, and in concert with General Mir- 
anda, with a view to help those colonies to their independence. And 
what did Mr. Monroe say, in 1812, when he was Secretary of State, 
to the seizing of Amelia Island and Pensacola by an American gene- 
ral ? He advised the retaining of these places till an amicable adjust- 
ment could be made by negotiation with Spain. Doubtless this 
statesman had in view then the annexation of Florida. Did not 
the Americans in 1819, 1820 and 1821 rush, unmolested by their 
government, with arms and ammunition to Mexico, and very effi- 
ciently assist in overthrowing the Spanish rule there ? And what 
was done in the liberation and annexation of Texas ? Mr. Jef- 
ferson, when consulted in 1823, by President Monroe on the 
question of the Monroe doctrine and the action of the govern- 
ment with regard to the revolted Spanish American colonies, spoke 
of the importance of recognizing and sustaining the independence 
of those new States. He remarked that the independence of the 
United States was due to the recognition abroad of that inde- 
pendence. While the United States should not interfere in Euro- 
pean affairs, he said, they should never permit Europe to intervene 
in America. He added, the interests of America are distinct from 
those of Europe, and that so long as the latter foster despotism 
we must secure a home for freedom upon this hemisphere. Mr. 
Jefferson in this same letter to President Monroe expressed the 
wish for the acquisition of Cuba, and said that he considered the 
island of great importance to the United States. 

The early statesmen of the republic foresaw the mighty future 
of the country, and seized even opportunity to carry out its des- 
tiny. -So, too, have the statesmen of other countries foreseen it. 
The great Napoleon, addressing the council of State in 180-4, 
said : — " I foresee that France will be compelled to abandon all her 
colonies. All those in America will, within fifty years, come 
under the dominion of the United States ; and this conviction has 
led to the cession of Louisiana." A distinguished traveler and 
writer, M. Simonin, wrote, in the Moniteur Universel, April 11, 



12 

1368 : — " The destiny of North America is curious to contemplate. 
It is the country of the future to which is attracted emigration, 
and which is at no distant day to alter the laws of the political and 
commercial world." But why multiply arguments or authorities 
upon that which is so evident ? Will the public men in the Uni- 
ted States at the present time — will the administration and Con- 
gress, be less ready to comprehend the destiny of the country, 
and the opportunity that is offered in the case of Cuba ? 

It may be said that the Monroe doctrine does not justify the 
seizure of foreign possessions in this hemisphere, and the forcible 
dispossession of the European governments over them. No, not 
in time of peace, and unless the law of self-preservation demands 
that. But it does not mean that the government shall aid in per- 
petuating monarchical despotism and institutions on American 
soil through neutrality laws, pretended friendship to European 
governments, or an over sensitive regard for what is often mis- 
takenly called national honor. It does not mean that the generous 
impulses of the American people shall be suppressed by their own 
government when they call for aid and recognition for those 
struggling to be free in America. It does mean, and that upon a 
broad principle of national policy, that every means should be 
used that a great nation can consistently use to secure the inde- 
pendence of an American people fighting to be free from European 
domination. It means that the United States should lose no op- 
portunity to republicanize and Americanize this continent and the 
islands that belong to it, and to increase the power, influence, and 
commerce of this country. Never was there a case in the history 
of America which appealed more earnestly for the application of 
the Monroe doctrine than that of Cuba. The state of affairs in 
the island, the horrible despotism of Spain over it, the frightful 
cruelty of the Spaniards in the war, the prolonged and heroic 
struggle of the Cubans, their successes under the greatest difficul- 
ties, their ability to sustain the war, the cry of anguish from the 
suffering people, their touching appeals to and hope from the 
United States, the political and commercial interests of this coun- 
try that are involved, the progress of American freedom and 
republican institutions — all call for the sympathy and interposition 
of the American people and government. The exclusion of Spain 
from Cuba should be the determined policy' of the United States. 



13 

Let the Cubans be recognized as belligerents — yes, let their inde- 
pendence be acknowledged — and let the generous and liberty-loving 
American people go to their aid, and the war will soon be over, 
and Cuba saved from the fate of San Domingo. 

No doubt the independence of Cuba would lead, as was said 
before, to its annexation to the United States. Whether it should 
or not the argument in favor of American action is the same. In 
addition to the views of American statesmen and eminent men, 
which have been given, with regard to the importance or value of 
Cuba to the United States, those of Mr. Edward Everett, as 
expressed when he was Secretary of State, in his famous reply to 
the French and British governments on the tripartite treaty pro- 
position, may be cited. He remarks : — " Territorially and com- 
mercially it would, in our hands, be an extremely valuable 
possession. In certain contingencies it might be almost essential 
to our safety." Again : — " There is at the present time an evident 
tendency in the maritime commerce of the world, to avail itself of 
the shortest passages from one ocean to another, offered by the 
different routes existing or in contemplation across the isthmus of 
Central America. The island of Cuba, of considerable import- 
ance in itself, is so placed geographically, that the nation which 
may possess it, if the naval forces of that nation should be con- 
siderable, might either protect or obstruct the commercial routes 
from one ocean to the other." In another place he says : — " The 
United States, on the other hand, would, by the proposed con- 
vention (tripartite treaty) disable themselves from making an 
acquisition which might take place without any disturbance of 
existing foreign relations, and in the natural order ol things. The 
island of Cuba lies at our doors. It commands the approach to 
the Gulf of Mexico, which washes the shores of five States. It 
bars the entrance of that great river which drains half the North 
American continent, and, with its tributaries, forms the largesl 
system of internal water communication in the world. It keeps 
watch at the door-way of our intercourse with California by the 
Isthmus route. If an island like Cuba, belonging to the Spanish 
crown, guarded the entrance to the Thames or the Seine, and the 
United States should propose a convention like this to Franc 
England, those powers would assuredly feel that the disability 
assumed by ourselves was far less serious than that which we 



14 

asked them to assume." Mr. Everett might have added, had he 
not been writing a diplomatic note, that if Cuba lay across the 
mouth of the Thames or the Seine, or guarded any other great 
outlet of British or French commerce, it would have been seized 
by either of these powers long ago. It would not have taken long 
before national interests would have overruled their national 
honor or regard for the nation in possession of such an island. 



15 

The Trade and Kesources of Cuba. 



The value of Cuba to the United States as the key to the Gulf 
of Mexico, as dominating the West Indies, as a protection to the 
coast and trade of this country on the Gulf, as extending Ameri- 
can influence over the whole region bordering the Carribean sea 
and the Gulf of Mexico, and in fact, as making the latter simply 
an American lake, has been adverted to, as well as the commercial 
value of that island to this country. It will be well, however, to 
call attention particularly to the productions, trade and prospec- 
tive resources of Cuba. 

According to an estimate made up from reliable data, the 
imports and exports of Cuba for the year just preceding the revo- 
lution, and, therefore, while the island was in its normal condi- 
tion, were : — 

Imports $64,000,000 

Exports 80,000,000 

Total $144,000,000 

In 1859, according to Pezuela's Geographical and Statistical 
Distionary, they were : — 

Imports $43,465,976 

Exports 57,455,185 

Total §100,920,864 

Taking the statistical report of Dr. Jose Maria de la Torre 
for the three years from 1861 to 1863, the average yearly total 
imports and exports were, $130,000,000. 

The total imports and exports then have increased steadily at 
about the rate of fifty per cent, in the ten years since 1859. It 
must be remembered that this large and valuable trade has been 
developed under the most unfavorable circumstances — under the 
high tariff, repressive government, and grinding exactions imposed 
by Spain. It shows, however, the vast wealth and importance of 
the commerce of Cuba. Had that island been under the benefi- 
cent and liberal government of the United States, the trade would 
have been doubled probably, and would have amounted to three 
hundred millions at least instead of a hundred and fifty millions. 



16 

The importance of the commerce with Cuba may be appreciated 
by referring to a table of statistics by Fernandez Corredor, 
showing the relative proportion among the different commercial 
nations. It is as follows : — 

United States of America 35.94 per Cent. 

England 22.52 

Spain 19.48 

France 8.33 

Germany, Holland and Belgium 7.02 

Spanish America 4.49 

Denmark, Sweden, Italy and Norway.. 1.84 

Austrio, Russia and Portugal 0.15 

China, Rio Congo and San Domingo... 0.04 



99.81 
Mercantile Depot 0.19 



100.00 

The United States has more than a third of the whole, amount- 
ing to over fifty millions of dollars a year. Yet the taxes on 
American products and trade are very heavy. Flour, for example, 
pays a duty of ten dollars a barrel, while on flour from Spain only 
two dollars are imposed. Cuba looks chiefly to America for 
breadstuffs, and takes largely from this country dry goods, agri- 
cultural implements, machinery of every description, articles of 
cooperage and many other things. Then, independent of all this, 
a large American tonnage is employed which enlarges the com- 
merce and brings great profits to the shipping and merchants of 
the United States. It is estimated that five thousand vessels of 
all classes enter the ports of Cuba in a year. Yet, this valuable 
trade will be lost if the United States does not interfere to stop 
the work of devastation now going on, by securing the independence 
of the island. Bat an imperfect idea can be formed of the vastly 
inereased value of that trade to this country should Cuba become 
free or annexed. The crowds of enterprising Americans that 
would go there and develope the resources of the island, to say 
nothing of the number of invalids and pleasure seekers that would 
visit this tropical paradise in the winter season, the vast sums of 
money that Cubans would spend in the United States, and the in- 
creased exports and imports under free trade and free intercourse, 
would make it a most valuable possession. It might well be called 
the gem of the Antilles for American interests. Indeed it would 



17 



be of far greater value to the commerce of the world generally 
than it is now. 

The products of Cuba, according to the statistics of Don Fran- 
cisco Fernandez Corredor, which have something of an official 
character, are as follows : 

53,380 houses, annual rent $16,2G0,060 

3,285 cattle haciendas, 270,798 bullocks and cows, 
35,200 horses and mares, 
3,342 mules and asses, 
349,960 hogs, 
34,813 sheep and goats, 
1,365 sugar estates, producing 1,127,351,750 lbs. with 
molasses, rum, and savings attached to the 

culture 

996 coffee estate, producing 16,822,000 lbs 

9,482 vegas of tobacco, prod'g 69,030,000 lbs 

Wax, 5,227,600 lbs 

Honey, 362,276 barrels 

5,738 pasture grounds, and 21,842 farms, producing 
4,902,525 lbs. cocoa "| 



500,000 

125,000 

50,000,000 

7,329,425 

7,500,000 

1,025 

2,000,000 

2,192,775 

125,000,000 



cotton 

arrowroot 

rice 

beans 

potatoes 

indigo 

seroons of plantains 

cheese 

nourishing roots or vegetables , 

70,000 loads of greens 

1,000,000 " maloja, or corn grn. fodder . . . 
240.000,000 lbs. of corn 



... J 
coal. 



Ginger, Palm Leaf, rope bark (majagua) bituminous 

(chapapote) 

Fruits', milk, starch, poultry and eggs 3,83 

Brick manufacturers, block quarries 1,419.000 

Timber 1,3 

Fisheries 1,000,00 I 

Copper ore : I 



5,286,180 



67,641,105 

2,523.300 

16,912,500 

1,794,381 

1,226,966 



13.748,746 



LOOO.OOO 



106,088 separate estates, urban or rustic and 20,156 
establishments of industry and commerce; anony- 
mous companies, professions, arts, and trades . . 



8,62 
124,469,in 



Total amount of products and annual inc es, $259,522,8] 1 



18 

It was estimated by the Commissioners at Madrid in 1867 
much higher. After making a liberal deduction it amounted ac- 
cording to their statistics, to :— $307,500,000. 

No estimate has been made, as far as known, of the total value 
of the developed property on the island, but taking the products 
as a basis, and the estimate of products given above is less, doubt- 
less, than the actual amount, the value must be near two thousand 
millions of dollars. What, for instance, must be the value of the 
sugar plantations which yield sixty-seven millions of dollars a year, 
or of the tobacco plantations which give seventeen millions ? But 
these are only the developed resources of Cuba. The undeveloped 
resources — those that might, and would, no doubt, be brought 
out, if the island belonged to the United States, are almost in- 
calculable. The whole area of Cuba embraces over twenty-five 
millions of acres of land, or according to General Dulce, there is 
in the island proper over twenty-one millions of acres. Less 
than fifteen per cent, is under cultivation, and less than twenty- 
eight per cent, pasture lands. The wood lands cover more than 
thirty- seven per cent. Probably three or four times the amount 
now under cultivation could be cultivated. No doubt the sugar 
and tobacco productions could be increased two or three hundred 
par cent, or more, and would give this country, in the case of an- 
nexation, the complete monopoly of these products in the world. 
Besides the productions peculiar to the tropics, including a great 
variety and abundance of fruits, Cuba produces in the high lands 
the apple, pear, peach, fig, grape, as well as wheat, rye, barley and 
other things of the temperate zone. It is hardly necessary to 
mention the wonderful variety of medicinal and aromatic plants, 
the fine mahogany, cedar, and other valuable woods, or the 
abundant resources in minerals and stones — as of copper, lead, 
iron, coal, marble, asphaltum, jasper, agate, opal and other things, 
for their existence is generally known. Enough has been said to 
show that there is no spot on the globe richer or more valuable 
than Cuba in resources to a country like the United States which 
knows so well how to use them. 

Spain derives a revenue of about thirty- seven millions of dollars 
a year from Cuba. Six to ten millions of this, according to cir- 
cumstances, go to the government of the old country, and the rest 
is taken by Spanish officials, and for the support of an insufferable 



19 

Spanish despotism on the island. The Cubans — the people from 
whom this vast amount is wrung — get none of it, and have no 
control over a dollar of it. The tax on the city and rural revenue 
of the Cuban people is over fourteen per cent., and this is in ad- 
dition to the high import and export duties. It is calculated that 
the Spanish rulers over Cuba intend to draw for the year ending 
July, 1870, fifty to sixty millions of dollars from the suffering 
Cubans. 

It may be proper to mention under this head that no island or 
country in the world has more excellent harbors than Cuba. There 
are more than twenty, besides a number of bays, into which ship- 
ping can go. Nine of these, namely, Havana, Bahia, Honda, 
Nuevitas, Nipe, Levisa, Guantanamo, St. Jago de Cuba, and 
Cienfuegos will admit ships of the largest class, and some of them 
are the finest and best protected harbors on the globe. The 
value of these to commerce is very great, but in addition to that, 
they are of the highest importance in a naval point of view. 



20 



The Population and Character of it. 



The population of Cuba, according to the last census of June, 
1862, showed there were : 

WHITES— European.Stock— Males 403,337 

" " Females.., 326,620—729,957 

" _ Yugatese — Males , 507 

" " Females 236— 743 

" Chinese — Males 34,025 

" " Females. 25—34,050 



Total Whites 764,750 



COLORED— Free— Males 108,097 

Females 113,320—221,417 

" Captured Emancipados — Males 3,171 

" •' Females... 1,350— 4,521 

" Slaves— Males 220,305 

" Females 148,245—368,550 



Total Colored 594,488 

RECAPITULATION. 

Whites. 764,750 

Colored 594,488 

GRAND TOTAL 1,359,238 

Fernandez Corredor made the population something more ; 
and considering the increase since the census of 1862 there is 
now, probably, a million and a half inhabitants on the island. 

One feature of the population is worthy of particular notice, 
and that is, that over six hundred thousand of the people are 
native whites of pure European stock. There has not been, as in 
Mexico, Central America, and some of the South American States, 
a mixture with Indians, for there were no Indians left in Cuba, 
and there has been little amalgamation with the negroes. The 
existence of slavery and the pride of race naturally "prevented the 
mixture of whites and negroes to any considerable extent. Of 
all the so-called Spanish American countries or colonies, not one 
can boast of a higher or more intellectual, type of people than 
Cuba. 



21 

In an article in the North American Review, January, 1849, 
on the poetry of Spanish America, attributed to Longfellow, 
the following language is used with reference to the people of 
Cuba : " Passing eastward across the Gulf, our eyes rest on the 
Queen of the Antilles, on fair and glorious Cuba, that ' summer 
isle of Eden,' whose name fills the mind with the most enchanting 
pictures of tropical beauty, the most delicious dreams of splendor 
and luxury and magnificent ease — that garden of the West, gor- 
geous with perpetual flowers, and brilliant with the plumage of 
innumerable birds, beneath whose glowing sky the teeming earth 
yields easy and abundant harvest to the toil of man, and whose 
capacious harbors invite the commerce of the world. In this 
island, so richly endowed with material gifts, we find the noblest 
and loftiest poets of Spanish America, men of true and universal 
sympathies, of high aspiration and heroic character, whose souls 
are fired with great ideas and unselfish hopes, whose poems are 
not stereotyped sentimentalities, tender or terrible, but manly 
outpourings of serious feeling, full of a genuine, high-toned enthu- 
siasm for great and generous objects." 

Out of the seven to eight hundred thousand whites of Euro- 
pean stock, there are not more than a hundred thousand Span- 
iards, including thirty or forty thousand troops, and numbers of 
officials. All the rest are native Cubans. The total colored, 
or negro, population, apart from the comparatively few Chinese 
and Yucatese, as shown by the table given above, was a little less 
than six hundred thousand. Out of this, according to the census 
of 1862, two hundred and twenty-one thousand were free. The 
slaves at that time numbered three hundred and v sixty-eight 
thousand. 

But slavery no longer exists in Cuba, except where the Span- 
ish government is in power and maintains it. The Cuban revolu- 
tionary government has abolished it. This is particularly worthy 
of notice, because the fact may not be generally known in the 
United States, and because it has been denied by a distinguished 
member of the American Congress. When the revolution com- 
menced the leaders contemplated the gradual abolition of slavery. 
In the declaration of independence, on the 10th of October, 1868, 
the Cubans declare : " We desire the gradual abolition of slavery 
with indemnification." But they soon advanced beyond this, and, 



22 

therefore, in the constitution of the Cuban Republic, adopted on 
the 10th of April, 1869, it is declared, in article 24, " All the in- 
habitants of the republic of Cuba are absolutely free." This ques- 
tion, then, is set at rest forever, so far as the Cuban revolution or 
the Cubans can settle it. Slavery can only continue to exist on 
the island through Spanish power. This fact alone ought to make 
the statesmen of the United States, and particularly those of the 
republican party, warm friends of the Cuban cause. 



23 



Nature of the Spanish Government in Cuba, 



Throughout the whole history of Cuba the Spanish govern- 
ment has been a pure, unmitigated military despotism. The few 
brief and spasmodic concessions of reform or change hardly 
amount to an exception, for the government has invariably fallen 
back to the old despotism, and instead of any improvement for the 
better, the oppression of the Cubans has gone on from bad to 
worse. Every branch of the administration has been always 
under the absolute control of the Captain- General — a power with 
which he has been invested by the home government. Ever 
since the close of the war of independence of the South American 
States, he has been clothed by special law with all the powers 
given to commanders of besieged places. The following royal 
decree, issued at Madrid, May 28, 1825, has been the basis of the 
government over Cuba : 

" His Majesty, the King our Lord, desiring to obviate the in- 
conveniences which might result, in extraordinary cases, from a 
division of command and from the interferences of powers and 
prerogatives of the respective officers ; for the important end of 
preserving in that precious island (Cuba) his legitimate sovereign 
authority and the public tranquility, through proper means, has 
resolved, in accordance with the opinion of his council of ministers, 
to give to your excellency the fullest authority, bestowiny upon you 
all the powers which by the royal ordinances are granted to the 
governors of besieged cities. In consequence of this, his majesty 
gives to your excellency the most ample and unbounded power, 
not only to send away from the island any persons in office, what- 
ever be their occupation, rank, class, or condition, whose continu- 
ance therein your excellency may deem injurious, or whose 
conduct, public or private, may alarm you, replacing them with 
persons faithful to his majesty, and deserving of all the confidence 
of your excellency ; but also to suspend the execution of any order 
whatsoever, or any general provision made concerning any branch 
of the administration, as your excellency may think most suitable 
to the royal service." 



24 

In accordance with this decree, Cuba was under martial law 
until 1860. A modification of the administrative system was then 
made, but this lasted only for a short time. In 1867 Captain- 
General Lersundi virtually re-established martial law in the island, 
and had even the plainest civil cases tried by military commis- 
sions. These commissions generally were composed of stupid and 
ignorant officers of the army, who, trampling upon all law, often 
sentenced to death or hard labor innocent men, and acquitted the 
worst criminals for money. Heavy taxes have been imposed 
without the Cubans having a voice in the matter, and if any one 
ventured to remonstrate with the home government he was looked 
upon as a rebel. The Cubans have been excluded from all offices, 
except such as were insignificant or unprofitable ; while their prop- 
erty, liberty, and even their lives were at the mercy of their re- 
lentless rulers. 

This tyrannical and barbarous system, which brought about 
the present revolution, was abolished by Captain- General Dulce, 
but only for a short period. He fell back to it with greater 
severity, for since then even sham trials have been dispensed with, 
and only his will while he was in Cuba, or the will of the Spanish 
volunteers was the law to imprison, banish, or execute any sus- 
pected Cuban. 

The judges and other civil officers of the government have 
always been either corrupt or the most ignorant men of Spain — 
men who only came to Cuba to make money. In numerous in- 
stances their offices have been left in the hands of underlings and 
clerks to transact business. 

The collection of the revenue has been in the hands of igno- 
rant and corrupt men, who, from the highest to the lowest officer, 
have always plundered the treasury. Nearly, if not fully, two- 
thirds of the revenue has been generally embezzled or stolen. 

Of late the government, the revenue, the high courts of jus- 
tice, and the Captain-General himself, have fallen into the hands 
of a mob, known as the Volunteers, who rule over whatever is left 
to Spain in Cuba. 

At present the so called Spanish Government in Cuba is an- 
archical and as revolutionary as that of the patriots, only not in 
so good a cause. The volunteers, that is, the Spaniards, numbering 
less than a twentieth of the whole population, deposed the late 



25 

Captain-General Dulce, and by this revolution usurped the 
authority over the island. This revolutionary faction is virtually 
the ruling power in Cuba now. A significant trait of the present 
rule of the volunteers at Havana is the announcement of a deter- 
mination to hold the power now in their hands, whatever govern- 
ment be established in Spain, and to reject particularly the re- 
publican form, and any decree favorable to the emancipation of 
the slaves. In fact, the present accidental ruling Spanish power 
in Cuba has no legitimate origin, and does not protect life and 
property. Poland has been called the Niobe of nations, and how 
truthfully might Cuba be called the Niobe of colonies. There is 
not in the civilized world a more despotic government than that 
over Cuba. It belongs rather to the dark ages than this age. It 
is a disgrace to our enlightened times, and a foul blot upon free re- 
publican America. Such a vile government which treats free 
white men as slaves, and which would perpetuate African slavery 
if it could, should not be suffered to exist in any part of the 
civilized world and should certainly be driven from American soil. 



26 



Efforts of the Cubans for Freedom. 



The earliest effort of the Cubans for freedom was about the 
time the Spanish colonies of South America acquired their inde- 
pendence. Venezeula, which was then at war with Spain, was 
fitting out an expedition to help the Cubans, but the United States 
opposed the movement. Mr. Clay explained in a speech the 
motive for this opposition. It was feared that the independence 
of Cuba at that time would lead to the abolition of negro slavery 
in the island, and that this would affect the institution in the 
Southern States of this country. Thus, it will be seen, the 
United States was mainly instrumental in preventing Cuban in- 
dependence long ago, and that it owes something to the poor 
Cubans for this selfish and cruel conduct. Cuba has been suffer- 
ing under a relentless tyranny ever since, though still endeavor- 
ing at times to shake it off. Her endeavors have brought about 
not only the persecution and even execution of maxiy illustrious 
Cubans, but also that of high-minded Spaniards, such as General 
Lorenzo, who, while Governor of Santiago de Cuba in 1836, pro- 
claimed there the liberal constitution promulgated in Spain, for 
which Captain-General Tacon sent from Havana a heavy body of 
troops against him and his constitutional followers. Several 
years later many Cubans, who remonstrated against the slave 
trade, were persecuted for having done so, and nearly all of them 
driven into exile. Shortly, thereafter, military commissions were 
set at work all over the Western Department of Cuba to suppress 
an alleged conspiracy among the colored people. The guilty par- 
ties were found chiefly among the rich free colored men, whose 
property was, of course, confiscated, and their lives taken by 
wholesale on the scaffold, while not a few of them died under the 
lash, which was freely and mercilessly used to compel them to 
confession. The suppression of this alleged conspiracy was fol- 
lowed a few years later by a real conspiracy of the white people 
under the lead of Gen. Lopez, who, being detected before his plans 
were matured for an uprising in the central part of the island, 



27 

fled and came to the United States. In 1850 he renewed his 
efforts and sailed from the United States, at the head of some six 
hundred men, and landed at Cardenas. He failed in this attempt 
to free Cuba, and returned to the United States. During the sub- 
sequent year partial uprisings took place, and Lopez sailed for 
Cuba once more, with about 450 men, to assist his friends to 
achieve their independence; but he again failed, and he, with 
many of his followers, were executed. However, the Cubans, 
persevering in their determination to be free, renewed their plans 
to that end, and a well organized movement was started under 
Gen. Quitman, but fell through in 1855, with the loss of valuable 
lives, and the banishment of many distinguished Cubans, to say 
nothing of a heavy outlay of money. Nevertheless, the Cubans 
did not despair, and a few years afterward, began to work again 
for their freedom, but suddenly stopped to listen to liberal propo- 
sitions from Spain, whither a delegation was sent in 1866. After 
a protracted stay, and long deliberations at Madrid, the delega- 
tion returned home disgusted, and reported to their constituents 
that nothing was to be expected from Spain in the way of liberal 
reforms or justice to Cuba. Then the Cubans recommenced their 
interrupted work, and when the late Spanish revolution broke out 
they were maturing their plans to free Cuba from the military 
sway of Spain. That revolution improved their opportunity, and 
on the 10th of October, 1868, they rose up in arms, and made 
a declaration of independence, dated at Manzanillo on that day. 
The following are extracts from that instrument : 

" In arming ourselves against the tyrannical government of Spain, we must. ac- 
cording to precedent in all civilized countries, proclaim before the world, the cause 
that impels us to take this step, which, though likely to entail considerable disturb- 
ances upon the present, will insure the happiness of the future. 

"It is well known that Spain governs the island of Cuba with an iron and bl I- 

stained hand. The former holds the latter deprived of political, civil and religious 
liberty. Hence the unfortunate Cubans being illegally prosecuted and thrown into 
exile, or executed by military commissions in times of peace : hence their being kepi 
from public meeting, and forbidden to speak or write on affairs of State: hence their 
remonstrances against the evils that afflict them, being looked upon as the pr 
ings of rebels, from the fact that they are bound to keep silence and obey: hen e 
the never-ending plague of hungry officials from Spain, to devour the product of 
their industry and labor : hence their exclusion from public stations and want of 
opportunity to skill themselves in the art of government: hence the restrictions to 
which public instruction with them is subjected, in order to keep them so ignorant 
as not to be able to know and enforce their rights in any shape or form whatever : 



hence the navy and standing army which are kept upon their country at an enormous 
expenditure from their own wealth, to make them bend their knees and submit their 
necks to the iron_yoke that disgraces them : hence the grinding taxation under which 
they labor, and which would make them all perish in misery but for the marvellous'fer- 
tility of their soil. On the other hand, Cuba cannot prosper as she ought to, because 
white immigration, that suits her best, is artfully kept from her shores by the 
Spanish Government. And as Spain has many a time promised us, ^Cubans, to 
respect our rights, without having hitherto fulfilled her promises ; as she continues 
to tax us heavily, and by so doing is likely to destroy our wealth ; as we are in 
danger of losing our property, our lives and our honor under further Spanish domi- 
nation ; as we have reached a depth of degradation unutterably revolting to man- 
hood ; as great nations have sprung from revolt against a similar disgrace k after 
exhausted pleading for relief; as we despair of justice from Spain through reason- 
ing, and cannot longer live deprived of the rights which other people enjoy, we are 
constrained to appeal to arms to assert our rights in the battle-field, cherishing the 
hope that our grievances will be a sufficient excuse for this last resort to redress 
them and secure our future welfare. 

" To the God of our conscience and to all civilized nations we submit the sin- 
cerity of our purpose. Vengeance does not mislead us, nor is ambition our guide. 
We only want to be free, and see all men with us equally free, as the Creator in- 
tended mankind to be. Our earnest belief is that all men are brethren. Hence 
our love of toleration, order and justice in every respect. "We desire the gradual 
abolition of slavery with indemnification ; we admire universal suffrage, as it insures 
the sovereignty of the people ; we demand a religious regard for the inalienable 
rights of man, as the basis of freedom and national greatness." 



20 



Review of the Insurrectionary Movement. 



The Cuban patriots first rose at Demajagua, in the district of 
Yara, and, as was said before, on the 10th o± October, 1868. On 
that eventful day there were only one hundred and twenty men 
to start the movement in this locality, and they had but few fire- 
arms. Three days after, the districts of Bayamo, Manzanillo, 
Jiguani and Las Tunas rose also, and the ranks of the liberators 
swelled to four thousand men. Some were armed with fowling- 
pieces, others with old flint-lock guns, not a few with pruning 
knives fastened to long sticks, some with pistols, and the majority 
with cutlasses, and whatever they could get. Such was the be- 
ginning of this heroic struggle. 

Shortly afterwards the insurrection spread over the districts of 
Holguin, Palma Soriano, Cobre, and Santiago de Cuba in the 
Eastern Department, and at the same time it was spreading over 
the whole of the Central Department. The want of arms and 
other materials of war caused the insurrection to drag along, but 
it continued to extend farther and wider, and soon embraced 
Palmilla and Saguey Grande in the Western Department. At 
the end of one year the patriots had risen in and had overrun 
nearly two-thirds of the whole island. More than forty thousand 
are now in the field, and though poorly armed for the most part, 
are successfully contending against the Spanish troops, which are 
well armed with the best approved weapons of the United States. 

But a small amount of war materials has reached the patriots 
on account of the difficulties met with by their agents abroad. 
The restriction placed upon their actions in the United States, 
under the construction given to the neutrality laws, has amounted, 
in some instances, almost to persecution. Perhaps not more than 
two hundred Americans have been able to join the patriots in 
Cuba, in consequence of the strict vigilance of their government, 
though thousands have been eager and ready to go. 

The means used up to the present time to forward the revolu- 
tion are from the Cubans alone ; nobody else has helped the cause 
with funds. 



30 

The districts of Santiago de Cuba, G-uantanama, Holguin, 
Manzanillo, Jiguani, Bayamo, Las Tunas, Puerto Principe, Nue- 
vitas, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Moron, Remedios, Trinidad, Santo 
Espiritu, Sagua, Cienfuegos and Colon, are controlled by the 
patriots, with the exception of a few towns and villages within 
these districts, where the Spanish troops are kept at bay and de- 
prived of any other means of attack than by increased reinforce- 
ments from Spain. Want of war materials alone prevents the 
patriots from capturing their besieged enemies, even in those in- 
trenched places where they are supplied through the seaboard 
and under the protection of the navy. Hence the determination 
of the Cubans to burn the sugar plantations, so as to deprive their 
enemies of the means relied upon to carry on the war, and to 
make the island valueless to them. This, to some extent, will 
be a set-off for the want of war materials. Were the Cubans as 
well armed as the Spaniards, the contest would soon be ended and 
the independence of the island established. The devastation now 
threatened, and necessary as a war measure with the Cubans, 
might then be avoided. The determination to burn the planta- 
tions, and the whole conduct of the patriots, show how terribly 
in earnest they are to conquer their independence. A people who 
would rather see their beloved country in ruins than submit any 
longer to despotism and political slavery, are not likely to fail in 
their object. And as Spain is in revolution herself, and too poor 
to carry on the war without resources from Cuba, there can be 
little doubt of the success of the Cubans ultimately, though utter 
desolation may come with it. 

The reported expressions of attachment to Spain by wealthy 
Cubans, as published in the Havana newspapers, are only sham 
manifestations of loyalty, extorted at the point of the bayonet 
by the Spanish officials and volunteers, for political effect abroad, 
and for the purpose of deceiving the people and government of 
Spain. The revolution is in every Cuban heart throughout the 
whole island, and as soon as the Cubans have arms enough to 
confront their enemies at every point, this will be shown. It 
would be strange, indeed, if any Cubans could be found devoted 
to a government which denies them the smallest measure of liberty, 
and which has always cruelly oppressed them. No, there are no 
Cubans/who do not sigh for freedom, whose hearts do not swell at 



31 * 

the thought of independence, except, perhaps, a very few renegade 
paid agents of the Spanish Government. 

It is estimated that there are in the revolted districts sixtv 
thousand men, besides the thirty to forty thousand now in the 
field, ready to join the patriot army as soon as arms can be put 
in their hands. The whole force even in these districts could thus 
be raised to ninety or a hundred thousand men — a force, if pro- 
perly armed, large enough to drive the Spaniards from every part 
of the island, except in a few places where they might be pro- 
tected by ships of war. There have been a number of conflicts 
of arms all along between the Cubans and Spaniards, and although 
there have not been any battles on a very large scale, several con- 
siderable engagements have taken place. The Cubans have 
shown great bravery as well as skill in these conflicts, which have 
resulted in general favorably to them. Of course, the Cubans 
pursue what is called the Fabian policy in war, as General Wash- 
ington did in the war of American independence, and as all 
revolutionists do who at first have comparatively limited means 
for warfare. This is effective war, nevertheless, and succeeds 
better in the case of a revolted colony like that of Cuba, or of 
the revolted American colonies, than any other mode of warfare. 
It proves exhaustive to the enemy which draws its resources and 
men from a distance, and strengthens the native revolutionists. 
It is unreasonable, therefore, to ask of the insurgents to make 
decisive pitched battles on a large scale as a condition for recog- 
nizing them as belligerents. The fact alone that Spain is com- 
pelled to strain all her means, and to send out continually rein- 
forcements of troops from the old country to keep up the war 
and that, too, after the conflict has been raging over a year, shows 
the magnitude of the struggle and the ability of the Cubans to 
sustain it. Looking at the progress of the revolution since it 
commenced, at the augmenting forces of the patriots, and the 
increasing area of territory over which they are spreading, and 
at the declining power of Spain over the island, the Cubans have 
every reason to expect success, and to claim the right of being 
recognized as a belligerent power. There can be found few 
examples in history in which a people fighting for their independ- 
ence have accomplished as much within so short a time as the 
Cubans. 



32 



The Cuban Constitution and Government. 



The Constitution adopted by the Constitutional Convention as- 
sembled for the purpose of making one, and unanimously approved 
by the Cuban Congress at Guimaro, the Provisional capital of the 
Bepublic, on the tenth day of April, 1809, is as follows : 

Article I. The Legislative Power shall be vested in a House of Representatives. 

II. To this Body shall be delegated an equal representation from each of the 
four States into which the island of Cuba shall be divided. 

III. These States are Oriente, Camaguey, Las Villas, and Occidents. 

IV. No one shall be eligible as Representative of any of these States except a 
citizen of the Republic who is upward of 20 years of age. 

V. No representative of any State shall hold any other official position during 
his representative term. 

VI. Whenever a vacancy occurs in the representation of any State, the Execu- 
tive thereof shall have power to fill such vacancy until the ensuing election. 

VII. The House of Representatives shall elect a President of the Republic, a 
General-in-Chief of its armies, a President of the Congress, and other executive 
officers. The General-in-Chief shall be subordinate to the Executive, and shall 
render him an account of the performance of his duties. 

VIII. The President of the Republic, the General-in-Chief, and the members of 
the House of Representatives, are amenable to charges which may be made by any 
citizen to the House of Representatives, who shall proceed to examine into the 
charges preferred ; and if, in their judgment, it be necessary, the case of the accused 
shall be submitted to the Judiciary. 

IX. The House of Representatives shall have full power to dismiss from office 
any functionary whom they have appointed. 

X. The legislative acts and decisions of the House of Representatives, in order 
to be valid and binding, must have the sanction of the President of the Republic. 

XI. If the President fail to approve the acts and decisions of the House, he shall, 
without delay, return the same, with his objections thereto, for the reconsideration 
of that body. 

XII. Within ten days after their reception, the President shall return all bills, 
resolutions and enactments which may be sent to him by the House for his approval, 
with his sanction thereof, or with his objections thereto. 

XIII. "Upon the passage of any act, bill, or resolution, after a reconsideration 
thereof by the House, it shall be sanctioned by the President. 

XIV. The House of Representatives shall legislate upon taxation, public loans, 
and ratifications of treaties; and, shall have power to declare and conclude war, to 



33 ■ 

authorize the President to issue Letters of Marque, to raise troops and provide for 
their support, to organize and maintain a navy, and to regulate reprisals as to the 
public enemy. 

XV. The House of Representatives shall remain in permanent session from the 
time of the ratification of this fundamental law by the people, until the termination 
of the war with Spain. 

XVI. The Executive power shall be vested in the President of the Republic. 
XYII. No one shall be eligible to the Presidency who is not a native of the Re- 
public, and over 30 years of age. 

XVIII. All treaties made by the President may be ratified by the House of 
Representatives. 

XIX. The President shall have power to appoint ambassadors, ministers-pleni- 
potentiary, and consuls of the Republie to foreign countries. 

XX. The President shall treat with embassadors, and shall see that the laws are 
faithfully executed. He shall also issue official commissions to all the functionaries 
of the Republic. 

XXI. The President shall propose the names for the members of his Cabinet to 
the House of Representatives for its approval. 

XXII. The Judiciary shall form an independent co-ordinate department of the 
Government, under the organization of a special law. 

XXIII. Voters are required to possess the same qualifications as to age and 
citizenship as the Members of the House of Representatives. 

XXIV. All the inhabitants of the Republic of Cuba are absolutely free. 

XXV. All the citizens are considered as soldiers of the Liberating army. 

XXVI. The Republic shall not bestow dignities, titles, nor special privileges. 

XXVII. The citizens of the Republic shall not accept honors nor titles from 
foreign countries. 

XXVIII. The House of Representatives shall not abridge the freedom of religion, 
nor of the press, nor of public meetings, nor of education, nor of petition, nor any 
inalienable right of the people. 

XXIX. This Constitution can be amended only by the unanimous concurrence 
of the House of Representatives. 

.Here follow the signatures of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, Pre- 
sident of the Convention, and of all of the Delegates. 

We, the undersigned, hereby certify and declare that the foregoing is a correct 
and faithful translation of the Cuban Constitution, and of each and every Article 
and clause thereof, and that the same is the fundamental and supreme law of the 
Republic. 

Done by order of the Junta Cubana, at the City of New York, in the United 
States of America, this 17th day of November, A. D. 1860, ami the second year of 
the Independence of Cuba. 

MIGUEL DE ALDAMA, 

President. 
J. M. Mbstre, Secretary. 



34 

The government of the republic of Cuba is democratic and 
federal, as is seen by the Constitution. It shows too that slavery- 
is forever abolished. 

The Cabinet is composed of the President of the Eepublic, a 
Secretary of State, a Secretary of War, a Secretary of the In- 
terior and Treasury. 

In all the territory controlled by the patriots there are Courts 
of justice, Post Offices, and a perfect interior organization to 
execute the laws of the Republic. 

The Cuban government has in the United States a special 
Envoy with full powers to represent it, at Washington, to make 
loans, and to do other things in behalf of the Eepublic. 

The Cuban Junta has been appointed by this Envoy to assist 
him in the service of the Republic. The appointment of said 
Junta has been approved by the Cuban government. 

In every department the government is properly constructed, 
efficient in administration, and commands the respect and 
obedience of the people. The President, Cespedes, has proved 
himself to be a man of great ability and equal to the crisis that 
has brought him to the head of the government. He is assisted, 
too, both by able civil officers and competent military command- 
ers. It is, then, in all respects, a de facto government, which 
deserves the respect and recognition of the nations of the world, 
particularly of the United States and the other republics of 
America which are interested in the development and perpetuation 
of republican institutions in this hemisphere. 



35 



Position of the United States toward Cuba in the Past 
and at Present. 



It lias been shown in the foregoing pages that Cuba might have 
become independent and a republic, shortly after the Spanish 
South American colonies acquired their freedom, and would have 
been aided in the effort by these new American republics, had not 
the United States checked the movement. The motive for this 
policy on the part of the United States sprung from the fear that in 
the event of Cuba becoming independent, negro slavery would be 
abolished in the island, and, that, on account of the proximity of 
Cuba, this might prove dangerous to the "peculiar institution" in 
the Southern States. 

Little was done by this country with regard to Cuba from that 
period, 1820-22, until the presidency of Mr. Polk, except to pre- 
vent the island falling into the possession of England, France, or 
any other European Power. During Mr. Polk's administration, the 
American Minister at Madrid was instructed to ascertain if Spain 
was disposed to transfer Cuba to the United States for a liberal 
pecuniary consideration. Spain was not disposed, and no great 
effort was made to induce her to part with the island. Then, in 
1854, the famous Ostend conference was held with a view to press 
Spain to sell Cuba to the United States. The three American 
Ministers abroad, who composed this conference, Mr. Buchanan ^ 
Mr. Mason and Mr. Soule, strongly recommended the acquisition of 
Cuba. Mr. Soule, the Minister at Madrid, was instructed to open 
negotiations with the Spanish Government to that end. It was 
said the United States Government was disposed to pay the large 
sum of a hundred and fifty millions to two hundred millions of 
dollars for Cuba. But Spain would not listen to the proposition, 
and the project tailed. At this point the subject was dropped, 
though Mr. Buchanan, when President, was disposed to renew the 
offer to purchase if an opportunity had occurred. From the time 
of Mr. Polk and all along to near the end of Mr. Buchanan's term, 
the Southern States and people of the South wished to acquire Cuba 
for the purpose of strengthening the institution of slavery and in- 



S6 

creasing the political power of the slaveholding section of the 
Union. This, in fact, was one of the strongest motives which led 
to the efforts to purchase Cuba. It was during these years, too, 
that several expeditions of Cubans and American sympathizers 
were organized in this country to revolutionize the island and to 
make it independent of Spain. Those of General Lopez and Gene- 
ral Quitman were the principal ones. They failed, as will be re- 
membered, chiefly on account of the vigilance of the United States 
Government in enforcing the neutrality laws. 

Scarcely anything had been said or thought of Cuba since Mr. 
Buchanan's presidency, for the people of this country were ab- 
sorbed in their own civil war and its consequences, till the revolu- 
tion in Spain and the rising of the Cubans brought the subject 
prominently before the American public and government again. 
This time it is not a filibustering expedition or the effort of a few 
Cuban refugees and American sympathizers to free the island 
from Spanish rule. It is a grand and wide spread movement of 
the Cubans themselves on their own soil. Indeed, it has assumed 
such proportions and the revolutionary feeling is so strong every 
where that this movement may be called an universal one. The 
success of the revolution in Spain, which drove Queen Isabella 
from the throne, and changed the government of the mother 
country, inspired the Cubans to follow the revolutionary example 
set them. They resolved to shake off the intolerable despotism of 
their Spanish masters, knowing that whatever might be the 
change of government at Madrid, there would be no hope for 
them — that they would be kept in political slavery and under 
military rule. 

The first appeal of the Cubans for sympathy and recognition 
was to the United States. They sent an envoy to the govern- 
ment at Washington to represent their case, and they commision- 
ed several of their eminent fellow patriots, known here as the 
Cuban Junta, to aid the revolution. But the former has not been 
received officially, and only as a private individual, though with 
much kindness and many expressions of sympathy, while obstruc- 
tions and difficulties have been thrown in the way of the latter in 
their efforts to serve the cause of their country. Yet, how dif- 
ferent are the circumstances connected with the present revolu- 
tionary movement to those associated with all previous movements 



37 

for the independence of Cuba. No party in the United States now 
desires the annexation of Cuba to strenghten the institution of 
slavery, for slavery has been abolished both here and in Cuba — 
that is, in Cuba as far as the action and power of the revolution- 
ary government go. Spain alone sustains slavery, and wherever 
her power ceases to operate there are no more slaves. The present 
movement, therefore, is in the interest of universal freedom for all 
races, as well as for emancipation from Spanish despotism. Then, 
how insignificant were all previous movements for Cuban independ- 
ence, by expeditions from the United States or otherwise, compared 
to this one. It has, indeed, attained the character of a grand 
national movement. 

From whatever point of view the Cuban revolution is looked at 
the position the American Government has occupied with regard 
to it appears anomalous, weak, unkind, and in conflict with sound 
policy. The Cuban republic has been recognized by one inde- 
pendent American nation, and several others have acknowledged 
the Cubans as a belligerent power; yet the United States Govern- 
ment, which ought to have been first in taking such a step, con- 
tinues to give a cold shoulder to the Cubans. 

It is time the administration at Washington should see the value 
of Cuba to this country, if it can become independent or annexed 
before it is utterly desolated by war, and see, too, that no better 
opportunity can arise for securing its independence or acquisition. 
Hence the instructions given last spring to General Sickles, the 
American Minister at Madrid, to make another proposition for the 
purchase of the island. A hundred millions of dollars were offer- 
ed, but this time in the form of a purchase by the Cubans them- 
selves, under a guarantee of the United States for the payment. 
This, doubtless, was considered a delicate way of making the offer 
in order to save the amour propre of the Spaniards and Spanish 
government in the case of a sale being made. Again the govern- 
ment of Spain refused to listen to such a proposition, and begged 
the American Minister to withdraw the communication embody- 
ing it as an official document. It was evident, the revolutionary 
government of Spain, whatever might have been the views or wish 
of the individual members of it, was afraid to entertain the offer. 
It was not very securely seated in power, had a formidable oppo- 
sition arrayed against it, which might have made the Cuban 



38 

question the fulcrum of hostility, and was looking to political 
ambition in the future. The members of that government were 
not prepared to risk so much by the sale of Cuba, though common 
sense and the condition of things both in the island and at hom^ 
might have taught them that this would have been the best solu- 
tion of the difficulty. Thus, it is seen, this last effort to secure the 
independence of Cuba in a friendly way has failed, as all former 
efforts failed. 

Since the Spanish Government rejected this proposal, it has ex- 
hibited a remarkable friendly tone to the United States, and over- 
whelming politeness to the American Minister at Madrid. And 
this seems to have had a very soothing effect upon the administra- 
tion at Washington, particularly upon certain members of it. But 
is it not known that all this overstrained politeness is mere pre- 
tence, and that Spain, like nearly all the old countries of Europe, 
has no love for the American republic and would do anything to 
check its progress and growing power ? Are there not evidences, 
and that of a recent date, too, that she has been ready to inter- 
pose in American affairs for the purpose of destroying republican 
institutions in this hemisphere ? Why, then is so much consider- 
ation shown to Spanish sensibilities and interests on this Cuban 
question ? Surely more consideration is due to our neighbors — 
to the natives of American soil — the heroic Cubans — who appeal 
with outstretched arms to the American people and govern- 
ment for recognition and aid. The politeness of the State De- 
partment to Spain has been withering to American interests and 
humanity. The punctilious and overstrained regard for the 
neutrality laws, which are un-American in principle and ought 
not to exist, is blighting to the proper policy and noble sympa- 
thies of this country. 

It has been said, and, no doubt, with much truth, that the question 
of the Alabama claims has had some influence upon the American 
government and certain public men in Congress, and that this has 
prevented the recognition of the Cubans and a more vigorous 
policy in their favor. How selfish and weak this appears ! How 
humiliating to this mighty republic, which should and ought to 
make laws for itself on all American questions ! But there is no 
parallel between the hasty recognition of an integral portion of 
the United States as belligerents by England, and the recognition 



39 

by this country of the Cubans — a distant colony of Spain and an 
American people — after fourteen or fifteen months of successful 
warfare. Nor should the American Government be deterred from 
performing a duty, which humanity and sound national policy call 
for, by any such consideration. But if this great question, which 
appeals to the pride and hearts of the American people, and which 
involves the interest and progress of the republic, is to be reduced 
simply to one of present profit or loss, the balance will be greatly 
in favor of Cuba. That island is worth far more than the Alaba- 
ma claims. But really there is no such question — it is a mere 
bugbear. The United States can take Cuba and settle the Alaba- 
ma claims afterwards at its own convenience and in its own way. 
All the statesmen of the world, except, perhaps, a few public men 
here who are not worthy of the name, see that Cuba must belong 
to the United States and that the opportunity for acquiring it 
has come. 

The recent action of the government in seizing the Spanish 
gunboats, and thereby preventing them from making war on the 
Cubans, indicates a change of policy. There are indications, too, 
that the President and Congress will shortly take a decided course 
in favor of Cuban independence. The country expects this. Pub- 
lic sentiment universally calls for it. And, as this great republic 
cannot afford to take half measures merely, or to place itself in a 
position to be humiliated by defeat in whatever it earnestly under- 
takes, there is hope that the hour of Cuba's freedom is approach- 
ing. Such a consummation would do honor to the country, and 
to the people of all parties who desire it, but especially would it 
bring glory to the administration and the party in power. The 
lamented General Rawlins, the President's dear friend, and Secre- 
tary of War, comprehended the Cuban question and the position 
of the government, when, in his dying and touching words, he 
appealed to Secretary Cresswell for " poor, struggling Cuba," 
when he declared that " her tyrannical enemies must be crushed, 
and Cuba must be free." It may well be said, also, as he earnestly 
expressed the sentiment, this republic is responsible for the fate of 
Cuba. 



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